Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
History of Country Music
Early History of Country Music in USA
Country music (or country and western) is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in traditional folk music, Celtic music, gospel music and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s.
The most significant date in the creation of country music was August 1, 1927, when, in Bristol, Tennessee, record executive Ralph Peer signed Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family to Victor Records. These two recording acts, Rodgers with his unique singing style and the Carters with their extensive recordings of old-time music, built the foundation for the genre.
http://www.roughstock.com/history/
Cowboy Music in the 1940's
The term country music began to be used in the 1940s when the earlier term hillbilly music was deemed to be degrading and the term was widely embraced in the 1970s, while country and Western has declined in use since that time, except in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where it is still commonly used. The songs of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and the Sons of the Pioneers put the Western in Country and Western Music. Much of this music was written for and brought to the American public through the cowboy films of the 30's and 40's and was widely popular.
http://www.roughstock.com/history/cowboy-music
The Nashville Sound
The Nashville Sound, a blend of pop and country, experienced its greatest success in the 1950s. The music in this era combined the big band jazz and swing of the '30s, '40s and early '50s with the storytelling of folk and country artists.
An artist whose career was cut tragically short, Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia, on September 8, 1932) is quite simply one of the greatest female vocalists of all time.
Even after her death, Patsy's records continued to sell; "Sweet Dreams (Of You)" (listen here) and "Faded Love" became top ten singles in 1963. Patsy has continued to be a major influence on singers like Loretta Lynn (who recorded a Cline tribute album in 1977), Reba McEntire and Patty Loveless. In 1973, she was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. She remains the gold standard for the women of country, but none match the emotion laced throughout her lovely alto.
http://www.roughstock.com/history/the-nashville-sound
Willie Nelson
Born on April 30, 1933, in Abbot, Texas, Willie Nelson was raised by his grandparents after his own parents separated. After his discharge from the Air Force in the early '50s, Nelson accepted a job hosting country shows on a Fort Worth station, doubling at night as a musician in local honky-tonks and, whenever he could, he was polishing his craft as a songwriter.
http://www.roughstock.com/history/outlaw-country
Urban Cowboy Movement
The Urban Cowboy movement of the early '80s led country music away from its roots. The genre's move toward pop culture was popularized by John Travolta's movie, Urban Cowboy, and spurred on by Dolly Parton's movie 9 to 5 and the popularity of its title song.
http://www.roughstock.com/history/urban-cowboy
Garth Brooks & New Country
The Country Music Superstar of the '90s, Garth Brooks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on February 7, 1962, and was raised in Yukon, about 100 miles away from Tulsa. Country music played a role in the Brooks' household, but not a dominant one. His father, Ray, worked as a draughtsman for an oil company. Colleen Carroll, his mother, was a country singer in the 1950s and had regularly appeared on Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee radio and TV shows, as well as recordings for Capitol Records. By the time Garth was born, she had retired from a professional career and the Brooks' house reverberated with as much rock and pop music as country.
http://www.roughstock.com/history/garth-and-new-country
Country Music in Australia
http://www.historyofcountrymusic.com.au/
http://www.countrymusicplanet.com/history/
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/music/country/
http://www.slimdusty.com.au
Country music in Australia has its origins in the folk songs sung from the 1780s to the 1920s, based around themes of Australian folklore, especially bush ranging, loneliness and isolation, endurance, drought, floods, droving and shearing. These themes still endure.
Country music can be defined by 'simple chords, strong storyline, memorable chorus and country instruments' (Max Ellis). Simple harmonies allow the music to be easily played and remembered. Strong storylines tell a tale, whether of a pub with no beer, or a broken heart. A memorable chorus supports the storyline and also assists with easy recall. Country instruments, such as the guitar, banjo, fiddle and harmonica create the distinctive country music sound.
By the 1930s country music was an established part of rural life in Australia. This was due in part to the widespread popularity of radio, which was introduced in 1923. Country music from the USA, especially the Carter Family, a musical family from Virginia, and Jimmie Rodgers (1897 - 1933), a railroad worker from Mississippi who sang complex yodels with a distinctive voice, became well known.
In the 1930s a recording artist named Tex Morton had a great influence on the development of an Australian country music style. A New Zealand born singer and songwriter, Morton spent half of his lifetime in Australia and later sang his own songs about his experiences in Australia. His distinctive style influenced future country musicians and earned him the title of Father of Australian Country Music.
In 1952 a singer and performer called Smoky Dawson began a radio show, called The Adventures of Smoky Dawson. This show stayed on air for ten years, and at its peak was broadcast on 69 stations across the country. Through this radio program and other TV appearances Smoky Dawson gained a reputation. Smoky became a yodelling, whip cracking, knife throwing, film acting, song writing, singing, matinee idol, radio & TV super star…
In the 1940s and 50s country music continued to grow in popularity, with performances in town halls, show grounds and talent quests.
One of Australia’s greatest country music stars, Slim Dusty (1946 - 2003), began to write the first of the 1000 songs he would complete during his lifetime. Slim Dusty was born David Kirkpatrick, in Kempsey, NSW. By the age of 10 he was already composing country music songs and identifying himself as a country music artist. Dusty is Australia’s most successful and prolific performer, with more Gold and platinum albums than any other Australian artist on record. In 1957 Dusty recorded and released a song that would become Australia’s first international number one hit - The Pub with No Beer. This song used verse written by the outback poet Dan Sheahan in 1943, set to music by Gordon Parsons.
Everyone knows that Lights On The Hill, written by Joy McKean and sung by Slim Dusty, was the first Golden Guitar winner 32 years ago in far off 1973. Not only did it win Song Of the Year but it also took out Best EP or Single for Slim while his LP Me And My Guitar took out Album of the Year.
Thirty years later in 2003, Slim picked up his 36th Golden Guitar for Norma Murphy’s moving song Just An Old Cattle Dog. In fact over the 31 years up to his passing, there were only seven years in which Slim didn’t carry off at least one Golden Guitar.
Slim Dusty was many things to many people. To the Australian country music industry he was our leader and our inspiration.
The Popularity of Country Music
Country music has produced two of the top selling solo artists of all time. Elvis Presley, who was known early on as “the Hillbilly Cat” and was a regular on the radio program Louisiana Hayride, went on to become a defining figure in the emergence of rock and roll. Contemporary musician Garth Brooks, with 220 million albums sold, is the top-selling solo artist in U.S. history.While album sales of most musical genres have declined, country music experienced one of its best years in 2006, when, during the first six months, U.S. sales of country albums increased by 17.7 percent to 36 million. Moreover, country music listening nationwide has remained steady for almost a decade, reaching 77.3 million adults every week.
When some people hear talk of country music, they think only of singers of sad songs with stereotypically twangy accents. These misconceptions did impede country music's growth at its birth, but the stereotype did not prevent it from becoming one of the most popular music forms of the 20th century. In fact, country music is one of the best-selling genres after rock/pop.
Country music (or country and western) is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in traditional folk music, Celtic music, gospel music and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s.
The most significant date in the creation of country music was August 1, 1927, when, in Bristol, Tennessee, record executive Ralph Peer signed Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family to Victor Records. These two recording acts, Rodgers with his unique singing style and the Carters with their extensive recordings of old-time music, built the foundation for the genre.
http://www.roughstock.com/history/
Cowboy Music in the 1940's
The term country music began to be used in the 1940s when the earlier term hillbilly music was deemed to be degrading and the term was widely embraced in the 1970s, while country and Western has declined in use since that time, except in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where it is still commonly used. The songs of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and the Sons of the Pioneers put the Western in Country and Western Music. Much of this music was written for and brought to the American public through the cowboy films of the 30's and 40's and was widely popular.
http://www.roughstock.com/history/cowboy-music
The Nashville Sound
The Nashville Sound, a blend of pop and country, experienced its greatest success in the 1950s. The music in this era combined the big band jazz and swing of the '30s, '40s and early '50s with the storytelling of folk and country artists.
An artist whose career was cut tragically short, Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester, Virginia, on September 8, 1932) is quite simply one of the greatest female vocalists of all time.Even after her death, Patsy's records continued to sell; "Sweet Dreams (Of You)" (listen here) and "Faded Love" became top ten singles in 1963. Patsy has continued to be a major influence on singers like Loretta Lynn (who recorded a Cline tribute album in 1977), Reba McEntire and Patty Loveless. In 1973, she was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. She remains the gold standard for the women of country, but none match the emotion laced throughout her lovely alto.
http://www.roughstock.com/history/the-nashville-sound
Willie Nelson
Born on April 30, 1933, in Abbot, Texas, Willie Nelson was raised by his grandparents after his own parents separated. After his discharge from the Air Force in the early '50s, Nelson accepted a job hosting country shows on a Fort Worth station, doubling at night as a musician in local honky-tonks and, whenever he could, he was polishing his craft as a songwriter.
http://www.roughstock.com/history/outlaw-country
Urban Cowboy Movement
The Urban Cowboy movement of the early '80s led country music away from its roots. The genre's move toward pop culture was popularized by John Travolta's movie, Urban Cowboy, and spurred on by Dolly Parton's movie 9 to 5 and the popularity of its title song.
http://www.roughstock.com/history/urban-cowboy
Garth Brooks & New Country
The Country Music Superstar of the '90s, Garth Brooks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on February 7, 1962, and was raised in Yukon, about 100 miles away from Tulsa. Country music played a role in the Brooks' household, but not a dominant one. His father, Ray, worked as a draughtsman for an oil company. Colleen Carroll, his mother, was a country singer in the 1950s and had regularly appeared on Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee radio and TV shows, as well as recordings for Capitol Records. By the time Garth was born, she had retired from a professional career and the Brooks' house reverberated with as much rock and pop music as country.http://www.roughstock.com/history/garth-and-new-country
Country Music in Australia
http://www.historyofcountrymusic.com.au/
http://www.countrymusicplanet.com/history/
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/music/country/
http://www.slimdusty.com.au
Country music in Australia has its origins in the folk songs sung from the 1780s to the 1920s, based around themes of Australian folklore, especially bush ranging, loneliness and isolation, endurance, drought, floods, droving and shearing. These themes still endure.
Country music can be defined by 'simple chords, strong storyline, memorable chorus and country instruments' (Max Ellis). Simple harmonies allow the music to be easily played and remembered. Strong storylines tell a tale, whether of a pub with no beer, or a broken heart. A memorable chorus supports the storyline and also assists with easy recall. Country instruments, such as the guitar, banjo, fiddle and harmonica create the distinctive country music sound.
By the 1930s country music was an established part of rural life in Australia. This was due in part to the widespread popularity of radio, which was introduced in 1923. Country music from the USA, especially the Carter Family, a musical family from Virginia, and Jimmie Rodgers (1897 - 1933), a railroad worker from Mississippi who sang complex yodels with a distinctive voice, became well known.
In the 1930s a recording artist named Tex Morton had a great influence on the development of an Australian country music style. A New Zealand born singer and songwriter, Morton spent half of his lifetime in Australia and later sang his own songs about his experiences in Australia. His distinctive style influenced future country musicians and earned him the title of Father of Australian Country Music.
In 1952 a singer and performer called Smoky Dawson began a radio show, called The Adventures of Smoky Dawson. This show stayed on air for ten years, and at its peak was broadcast on 69 stations across the country. Through this radio program and other TV appearances Smoky Dawson gained a reputation. Smoky became a yodelling, whip cracking, knife throwing, film acting, song writing, singing, matinee idol, radio & TV super star…
In the 1940s and 50s country music continued to grow in popularity, with performances in town halls, show grounds and talent quests.
One of Australia’s greatest country music stars, Slim Dusty (1946 - 2003), began to write the first of the 1000 songs he would complete during his lifetime. Slim Dusty was born David Kirkpatrick, in Kempsey, NSW. By the age of 10 he was already composing country music songs and identifying himself as a country music artist. Dusty is Australia’s most successful and prolific performer, with more Gold and platinum albums than any other Australian artist on record. In 1957 Dusty recorded and released a song that would become Australia’s first international number one hit - The Pub with No Beer. This song used verse written by the outback poet Dan Sheahan in 1943, set to music by Gordon Parsons.Everyone knows that Lights On The Hill, written by Joy McKean and sung by Slim Dusty, was the first Golden Guitar winner 32 years ago in far off 1973. Not only did it win Song Of the Year but it also took out Best EP or Single for Slim while his LP Me And My Guitar took out Album of the Year.
Thirty years later in 2003, Slim picked up his 36th Golden Guitar for Norma Murphy’s moving song Just An Old Cattle Dog. In fact over the 31 years up to his passing, there were only seven years in which Slim didn’t carry off at least one Golden Guitar.
Slim Dusty was many things to many people. To the Australian country music industry he was our leader and our inspiration.
The Popularity of Country Music
Country music has produced two of the top selling solo artists of all time. Elvis Presley, who was known early on as “the Hillbilly Cat” and was a regular on the radio program Louisiana Hayride, went on to become a defining figure in the emergence of rock and roll. Contemporary musician Garth Brooks, with 220 million albums sold, is the top-selling solo artist in U.S. history.While album sales of most musical genres have declined, country music experienced one of its best years in 2006, when, during the first six months, U.S. sales of country albums increased by 17.7 percent to 36 million. Moreover, country music listening nationwide has remained steady for almost a decade, reaching 77.3 million adults every week.
When some people hear talk of country music, they think only of singers of sad songs with stereotypically twangy accents. These misconceptions did impede country music's growth at its birth, but the stereotype did not prevent it from becoming one of the most popular music forms of the 20th century. In fact, country music is one of the best-selling genres after rock/pop.
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